New York Daily News

Knicks fall to Kings on Skal Labissiere’s last second game-winner

Stefan Bondy ·Mar 5, 2018 9:33 AM

SACRAMENTO — In a battle at the bottom, the Knicks showed they are somehow worse than the Kings.

The effort was again pitiful from the Knicks for most of Sunday night’s 102-99 loss in the Golden 1 Center, and by the time they decided to play defense it wasn’t enough because Sacramento’s Skal Labissiere hit a game-winning 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds remaining.

And when the latest embarrassment was over, coach Jeff Hornacek was again questioning his team’s effort.

“All I can say is that we’re capable of doing it but it’s not easy,” he said. “The floating through things. Okay, we’re not in the playoffs but you still have to play with a sense of desperation every time we get on the court. These guys have opportunities to get out there and show the league what they can do. A lot of them have been bench guys on other teams or the G-League or something. You have to take advantage of the opportunities when they happen.”

In falling to 24-40, the Knicks lost for 12th time in their last 13 games and that may not even be their worst streak because they’ve also lost 26 of 33. The Kings (20-44) are among the NBA’s tankers while experimenting with their youngsters — starting three rookies Sunday and the second-year Labissiere. But they still slammed the Knicks with a 13-0 run in the third quarter and then buried them with Labissiere’s jumper after giving up a 19-point lead in the fourth.

Michael Beasley, who committed five turnovers and continues to be a letdown since the All-Star break, declined to engage questions about the game.

“Uhhhhhhhh, I don’t know,” he answered, twice.

A day earlier — on the heels of an embarrassing defeat to the Clippers — Hornacek challenged the Knicks to play with pride for the remainder of the season. He forced them to watch tape of the Clippers defeat and dissect their mistakes.

The effort was again pitiful from the Knicks.Image by: Kiel Maddox/USA TODAY Sports

Then they went into Sacramento and didn’t play defense again.

“I’m not going to be a broken record,” Tim Hardaway Jr. said about the repetitive third-quarter struggles. “What else am I going to say? I can’t say nothing else.”

The Knicks recovered from their 19-point deficit to tie the game on Kyle O’Quinn’s free throws with 16.6 seconds left. On the following possession, Labissiere chucked up his winner and the Knicks didn’t have another timeout to advance the ball.

Another day was checked off this lost season as the Knicks wait for the end.

“I think some of the guys think they’re playing hard,” Hornacek said. “I’m sure these guys are saying I’m playing as hard as I can. But there’s a different level between playing hard and playing with that desperation I’m going to do anything it takes to win. That’s an internal thing.”